Cameras have become ubiquitous in recent years, finding applications from casual social settings to the most sophisticated medical technology. The integration of cameras with other devices such as cell phones and personal organizers has increased the function and utility of individual devices. The availability and flexibility of modern cameras allows their use in a diverse range of settings that are potentially unworkable for previous generations of cameras. However, combining image capture technology with other systems can cause an inconvenient increase in the size and weight of the composite device.
Accordingly, optics and electronics in general frequently benefit through reductions in component size. Today's cameras take up only a small fraction of the space required by previous generations as a result of developing technologies in digital imaging sensors and micro optics. The current generation of image sensors can provide high resolution image detectors utilizing micro-scale pixilation and high signal to noise ratio. However, reductions in size can result in increased cost and manufacturing complexity. Conventional fabrication procedures for optical lenses and related components, such as injection molding, glass fabrication and polishing, and so forth, are limited in production capacity and efficacy for micro-optics, such as those utilized for wafer level optics. Further, conventional optical fabrication can be prone to surface deformation or damage when exposed to the high temperatures associated with circuit formation for wafer level optics. Traditional heat curing processes can also increase manufacturing difficulties.
Therefore, to reduce the burdens associated with reduced system size without compromising image quality, it is desirable to develop small-scale camera systems that are easier to replicate, composed of fewer elements, have higher precision at millimeter and micrometer scales, and are simpler to install in various applications. The cost of optics is often determined predominantly by the cost of the lens assembly, and it thus follows that reductions to the cost of the lens or lenses can significantly mitigate unit expense.